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“Suit yourself, smart ass.” He snorted and turned for the door.
“What are you going to tell them?” I asked, smirking when he stopped short.
“What are you talking about?”
“I can’t imagine they’re going to be thrilled when they realize how badly your two minions fucked up. Grabbing the wrong guy and all.” I sucked in an exaggerated hiss of pain. “Doesn’t bode well for you, boss. Might be time to switch sides.”
“You don’t know shit,”he shot back with less conviction than he probably thought he had. His rumbly voice was full of confidence, but the nervous way his eye twitched told me otherwise.
“You should consider your options very carefully. Your friend certainly didn’t and look how that played out.”
His hand gripped the edge of the rusted door, burly knuckles tightening.
“Oh, sugarplum! You two weren’t close, were you? He was a bit of an idiot, truth be told, but I suppose that’s what made him so special.Sospecial.” I sighed wistfully and crossed myself. “May he rest in peace.”
He glowered, showing tremendous restraint — unfortunately for me.
I beamed at him, hoping to poke the bear a little more. “Bet it frosts your ass you can’t do anything about it, either. You just have to stand there, knowing your kinfolk’s killer is going to get away with it. Poor Dwight... No justice at all.”
With a low growl, he charged at me. I was prepared for a boot to come flying at my face, but he stopped suddenly outside of some invisible boundary, his face darkened with anger.
“Aw, come on.” I tossed my head, beckoning him with a grin. “Come get your revenge. I’ll let you take the first swing.” I tugged on the handcuff, trying to tempt him with my vulnerability.
The man shook his head. “You gotnoidea what’s coming for you.”
“Apparently neither do you.”
He blinked before disguising it with a roll of his eyes.
“Quite frankly,” I said with a bright smile, crossing my legs at the ankle. “I don’t know which should worry you more — what happens whenIget out of here, or what happens if my husband gets his hands on you first.”
The man scoffed, giving me a once-over. “You’ll be singing in a different tune in a couple hours, you fucking fairy.” Rude.
With that, he stepped out, clanging the door shut behind him. A deadbolt slammed into place on the other side, along with an additional lock of some sort.
As much as I wanted to figure out who the hell Leander or I pissed off this time, time was clearly of the essence.
Jerking my left arm, I tested the strength of the handcuffs against the pipe I was chained to. With my luck, it was a fucking gas line. The pipe was old, but the threads would never give way. Even if I could somehow break through the metal, I didn’t want to run the risk of creating a spark or gassing myself out.
That meant the weakness was in the handcuffs themselves.
Casting about for something to help in my endeavor, I tried to stay focused on that task instead of thinking about a thousand other things, namely Leander. Where was he? Was he safe? Dear God, I hoped he didn’t think I turned my back on him like before.
Swatting the water and protein bar off of my lap with a sudden burst of brilliance, I unclasped my belt buckle and ripped the leather free. Gavin was getting a raise as soon as I was out of this shithole. Who knew his trendy Christmas present would literally be a lifesaver.
Ok… time to remember what that SEAL in Tangiers said. Pushing past the memories of spearmint tea and perfectly chiseled abs, I picked up the thread of our conversation from fifteen years ago.
Shoving my sleeves out of the way, I slid the handcuff up as far as it would go on my forearm and then forced it even further to make sure it was as tight as possible. The skin on my arm throbbed beneath the metal, but I couldn’t think about that since I knew it was about to get a hell of a lot worse.
The pain and the blood doesn’t matter. Freedom is what matters, the Texan’s voice drawled in my head. Better the left arm than the right, anyway.
Wedging the corner of the belt buckle between the double metal strands, I applied as much pressure as I could, trying to turn the titanium inside the steel. Pain erupted in my arm, aggravated by the hot, sticky blood seeping out of my torn skin. I gritted my teeth and kept going.
Freedom is what mattered —Leanderis what mattered.
I didn’t dare let up on the pressure, even when it felt like my arm was on fire. The strands bowed out, ever so slightly.
A drop of sweat rolled off the tip of my nose and plummeted onto my bloody forearm. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so stubborn and actually eaten the damn protein bar. It probably would have helped with the queasiness. Too late now. I wasn’t going to let up on the tension for anything.
